This invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing cables from reels wherein the reels can be lifted from the ground by a conventional forklift truck.
Many elongated elements, such as cable, rope, or metal sheet stock are wound about an axle or core section having oppositely positioned sides or flanges to form a reel for storage or dispensing purposes. After these reels have been formed and are loaded with cable, they are stored in warehouses or storage facilities until the cable is needed. Because these cable reels can weigh over 10,000 lbs., it is desirable to make them of materials capable of withstanding heavy loads. Customarily, this is accomplished by having a metal core section about which the cable is wound and two oppositely positioned side flanges made of either steel spokes and rims integral therewith, or oppositely crossed wood planks. These side flanges can be provided with a plurality of cross braces to accommodate increased strength and resistance to buckling or lateral deformation of the side flanges.
It is often required that these reels be moved about the warehouse facilities or storage locations to accomodate the storage of additional reels. It is similarly required that they be moved about the aforementioned facilities to expedite loading the reel onto dispensing structures, which are then operative to permit unwinding of the cable during cable laying operations. In the past this has required the use of a lift truck or other suitable structure for moving the reel about the warehouse facility.
An even greater problem is incurred in removing the cable from the reels. It is often required that the material wound about these cable reels be loaded onto other reels, which are operative with trucks or machines useful for dispensing the cable for desired purposes. Prior art apparatuses for suspending these reels for dispensing cable included inverted U-shaped stands with spindles disposed at their uppermost section for receiving the reel to facilitate unwinding of the cable. These strands were immovable and thus inflexible with regard to their positioning about the warehouse facility.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an apparatus which permits the movement of these reels about the storage facilities and simultaneously provides the ability to dispense the material contained thereon once the reel is located at the desired position.
Particularly in the case of very heavy reels, considerable danger existed due the rotational inertia gained by the reel during unwinding operation. Therefore, in many cases two or three men would be required to selectively control the reel rotation during dispensing operations using stands of the nature found in the prior art. Because of the extreme danger associated with unwinding materials at high speeds, it is necessary to provide a reel speed controlling means to adjust reel pay-out with material requirements.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,714,463 to Fraser, and 3,930,585 to Lynch apparatuses are disclosed for moving a cable reel about a warehouse facility.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,913,854 to McClure, 4,025,006 to Turnbow, 1,693,876 to Unruh, 1,825,218 to Hook and 2,650,771 to Marion, apparatuses are disclosed for permitting the unwinding of cable.
These prior stands were unacceptable in that they did not illustrate the ability to simultaneously permit lifting, movement, and controlled dispensing of cable from heavy reels. The unacceptability of these prior art apparatuses has been generally acknowleged. They uniformly required additional personnel to operate them in a manner which facilitated the controlled dispensing of cables.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus which supports a cable reel off the ground for dispensing cable found thereon.
There is a further need for an apparatus which simultaneously provides for the movement of a cable reel around a facility, wherein when the cable reel is located at the desired location it is possible to control dispensing of the cable wound thereabout with only one operator.